Navy SEAL killed by ISIS fire in Iraq identified

Editor's note: This article was originally published at 10:36 a.m. EDT on May 3 and has been updated. Some details have been withheld at the request of the Defense Department.

The U.S. service member killed near Irbil, Iraq, by ISIS gunfire was a Navy SEAL, Navy Times has learned. according to two defense officials who spoke on background and an internal Pentagon report obtained by Navy Times. The Associated Press later identified the casualty as Special Warfare Operator (SEAL) 1st Class Charlie Keating IV, the grandson of Arizona financier involved in savings and loan scandal.

The special warfare operator first class member, an E-6, Keating was killed died around 9:33 a.m. local time from a gunshot wound, according to two defense officials. an internal Pentagon report obtained by Navy Times.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter said "it is a combat death" at a Tuesday press conference.

Keating is the third American serviceman to die in combat in Iraq since the U.S.-led coalition launched its campaign against the Islamic State in the summer of 2014, according to military officials. The Navy SEAL's name and rank has not been released, while officials notify his family.

Special operations forces have been embedded with anti-Islamic State group fighters for nearly two years, training and assisting the resistance to the group that overran northern Iraq in early 2014.

A U.S. military official told the Associated Press that the man Keating was an embedded adviser to Kurdish peshmerga troops forces. He was killed by "direct fire" after Islamic State forces penetrated the peshmerga's forward line. The American was two to three miles behind that front line, the official said.

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In December, the Pentagon announced it was sending more special operators to Iraq to conduct raids. Experts say the raids have taken a devastating toll on ISIS leadership.

Keating, 31, attended the Naval Academy Indiana University before becoming a Navy SEAL based out of Coronado, Calif.

Contrary to reports by other publications, he did not attend the Naval Academy, academy spokesman Cmdr. John Schofield confirmed on Wednesday.

Keating enlisted in 2007 and reported to his first SEAL unit in June 2008, according to Navy personnel records. He served with three units in all, earning the Bronze Star with combat "V," three Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals, an Army Achievement Medal and two Combat Action Ribbons.

His deployment medals include a NATO Medal and campaign medals for Iraq and Afghanistan.

A 2004 graduate of Phoenix's Arcadia High School, Keating was city and region champion in the 1,600-meter run as a sophomore, junior and senior.

Rob Reniewicki, Keating's former track coach at Arcadia, said he has kept it touch with him through Facebook over the years, and he is heartbroken by the news.